Diversity Best Practices Reveals the Inclusion Index

Recognizing 73 Organizations for Best Practices in Diversity & Inclusion

posted Jul 23rd, 2018 at 5:11pm

NEW YORK, NY, July 24, 2018—Diversity Best Practices (DBP), a division of Working Mother Media, unveiled its second annual Inclusion Index, providing data and insight into how participating organizations fared in three areas: diversity and inclusion practices in recruitment, retention, and advancement; organizational culture; and demographic transparency. 31 organizations are being recognized for superior achievement, earning a score of at least 81%, and qualifying them as a Leading Index organizations. 42 organizations earned scores of at least 65% to be included in the Index.

This year’s Leading Index organizations include: Aetna, Bank of America, Boston Scientific, Ernst & Young LLP, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, L’Oréal USA, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Unilever, Verizon, and Visa. A full list of the Inclusion Index organizations can be found here.

This year, 124 organizations participated, more than double the amount last year. Results reveal opportunities for all organizations to amplify their diversity and inclusion efforts for greater effectiveness.

The Inclusion Index asked organizations to provide data in three areas:

Adherence to best practices for fostering diversity and inclusion in recruitment, retention and advancement of people from under-represented groups—women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ people.

Best practices in creating an inclusive culture through leadership, accountability, communications, and employee engagement.

Transparency in willingness to share workforce demographic data.

"It's wonderful to see how the DBP Inclusion Index has grown in its second year with more companies willing to share their progress and workforce demographics," says Deborah Munster, executive director, Diversity Best Practices. "We commend their transparency as they continue to strive for excellence in creating an inclusive environment for all employees."

Recruitment: 75% of Index organizations require interview slates for job openings to have diverse applicants (compared with 58% of all participants). 93% of Index organizations train recruiters to ask culturally competent questions of diverse applications (compared with 75% of all participants).

Talent Development: 51% of Index organizations have succession planning at top levels aimed specifically at women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, veterans, and LGBTQ people (compared with 31% of all participants).

Company Culture: 78% of Index organizations provide special talent development programs for employees who become leaders of Employee Resource Groups (compared with 61% of all participants).

Accountability: 37% of Index organizations compensate managers for diversity and inclusion results (compared with 24% of all participants).

The Inclusion Index Data Snapshot featuring highlights from the report can be found here. Completed applications were collected online from December 2017 to March 2018.

ABOUT DIVERSITY BEST PRACTICES

Diversity Best Practices, a division of Working Mother Media, is the preeminent
organization for diversity thought leaders to share best practices and develop innovative solutions for culture change. Through research, benchmarking, publications and events, DBP offers members information and strategies on how to implement, grow, measure and create first-in-class diversity programs.